What Happened to Stacia May Cooks??

It has challenged me to get my butt in gear and start blogging and cooking again. What happened? A lot has happened in the past year since I last posted.

Soon after my last post I found out that I was pregnant.

Unfortunately with pregnancy there is this lovely side affect called “morning” sickness–more like “evening” or “all day” sickness for me! So cooking was off the menu for me, since I couldn’t even stand the sight of food. I lost 15 pounds in my first trimester. As time went on I did end up being able to eat more normally again, but then came the fasting blood sugar test. I failed it the first time and then had to return for the dreaded 3 hour test. I failed that too. So what did that mean? It meant I had gestational diabetes (GDM) and had to eat a very specific diet. It was summer, so my meals contained a lot of grilled chicken thighs and grilled veggies. Not too interesting for blogging, but I will say this, I always used a cookbook or made up my own recipes for the entire year last year! So I kept my resolution for 2015!

As the year progressed, due to the GDM, it became easier to just eat the same meals every day. One positive about that though, is that I didn’t gain that much weight during my pregnancy!

(Sorry for the iPhone, mirror selfies, but I opted to not get maternity photos)

My water broke at 39 weeks and after 25 hours of labor, 3 hours of pushing and then an unscheduled C-section, Dave and I welcomed our son, Casimir Jack into the world in October of 2015!

Recovery from the C-section was pretty rough and while I was in the hospital we discovered the hard way (as in they had to call a code) that I am allergic to NSAIDs, such as Motrin and Aspirin. My pain medication choices ended up being either Tylenol or Narcotics. Needless to say, I didn’t think being a zombie or high for the first few days of my son’s life would be good, so Tylenol it was! I never had surgery before and the pain was pretty intense.

Eleven days after giving birth, I became dehydrated and ended up back at the hospital. After that I realized that I was starting to develop post partum anxiety (PPA) which led to some post partum depression (PPD). My counselor said anxiety and depression are cousins! Yay! Thankfully through prayer, counseling and medication I have greatly improved and am feeling more like my “normal” self. Little did I know that gestational diabetes and traumatic birth predispose a person to PPA/PPD. Besides being just plain exhausted from recovering from surgery and taking care of a newborn, I think the PPA/PPD decreased my desire to cook and blog. I used the wonderful meals provided by friends and family for the first month and half as an excuse not to cook as well. Little by little I have started to cook again. I started out simple with basics like stir-fry or omletes. On Valentine’s Day I made a yummy prosciutto wrapped, goat cheese stuffed chicken breast with pappardelle pasta and a side of salad.

Dave was happy because he took me cooking again as a sign I was feeling better. I also have tried some meal preppin’ a few times. If you’re ever looking for a good meal prep plan that incorporates most of the same ingredients made in different ways check out this plan I found on Buzzfeed!

And that brings us to the present–I’m feeling a lot better, getting back into the swing of my work routine, Casimir is sleeping pretty well at night–so time to get back to cooking and blogging. Not saying it’s going to be as consistent as it was a year ago, and I can’t promise it will always be from a cookbook, but it definitely won’t be a year until my next post! In fact, stay tuned, because tommorow I will have an Easter recipe to share!

P.S. If you or someone you know is struggling with PPA, PPD or really any mental health problem, please seek help! Like I said, a combination of prayer, counseling and medication really has helped me. And new moms, don’t try to be a hero and “tough it out”, we are not meant to do this alone! Reach out to someone–there is no shame in needing help!